1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to water treatment systems, and in particular to a water treatment system that a person can carry in one hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
The demand for water treatment systems is increasing. As population increases, the demand for water also increases. In many areas, clean drinking water may not be readily available. When a population moves from a well-established city with a water system to more remote areas, small scale and portable water treatment becomes even more important. If the water treatment can both remove the danger of contaminants and also add healthy components, then a double benefit is obtained from such a treatment.
One known water treatment method is to add oxygen to water. Some systems bubble gas containing oxygen through the water so that some of it is retained in the water. This has been shown effective from some types of large scale water treatment but is somewhat expensive and is a slow treatment technique.
Another known technique to place oxygen in water is electrolysis, which operates as follows. A voltage is applied to an electrolytic cell that is immersed in water, resulting in current flow in the water. The current flow in the water causes the water molecules to break up into their component parts of hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are thereby freed from the water. Typically, most of the hydrogen gas escapes as a gas from the water, while some of the oxygen gas is dissolved into the water. See, for example, the systems described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,287, issued Mar. 17, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,870, issued Jun. 15, 1999, owned by the same assignee as this invention. Current water treatment systems using electrolysis are usually designed to be installed in-line with the water flow path. Additionally, these systems are commonly designed to handle large volumes of water. What is not currently available is a system and method that efficiently increase the dissolved oxygen content of water off-line, and which is small enough for home use.